Posted May 20th 2008 4:30PM by Cory Bohon Filed under: Apple
Because Apple thought that you just couldn't get enough of that "Vista blues" song that was in the latest Get a Mac ad, they posted an extended version of it that runs 1 minute, 34 seconds. PC just keeps singing, despite Mac's look of amazement that PC could sing that long. At the end, PC finishes the song by singing "... there's nothing left to do, except control. alt. delete."
Apple just released a new "Get a Mac" ad entitled "Sad Song." In this commercial, PC is singing a country inspired song about how Vista saddens him. This commercial was released and played during the American Idol show tonight on the FOX network. You may remember that Apple also released 2 new Get a Mac ads last night. You can watch this and other Get a Mac ads on the Apple website.
Apple just released two new "Get a Mac" ads -- Pep Rally and Group. In Pep Rally, PC tries to pep himself up despite the fact that the Mac is the "number one notebook on college campuses." Just when PC finishes his rant, the cheerleader squad starts cheering for Mac.
In Group, PC is in a support group with fellow PCs. "You've just taken the biggest step, and that's accepting that our operating system just isn't working like it should," are some words uttered by the PCs. The comedy comes at the end of this one as a PC stands up and says "I am pleased to say that I've been error free for over a week" in a constant loop.
You can view these new ads on Apple's Get a Mac website. Apple has also redesigned their Get a Mac site for viewing these Mac commercials, you can now view them by year going all the way back to 2006.
It's been a long time since we've seen new iPod ads featuring the old silhouettes. Well, after taking a break from them, Apple has decided to release a new silhouette ad. It was shown on TV in the US today and can be seen by going to the Apple iTunes page and clicking "Watch the new ad" underneath the "Featured on iTunes" section. The music is apparently "Shut Up and Let Me Go" by UK band the Ting Tings.
Last night Apple released a new Get a Mac ad showcasing Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac. Apple seems to keep releasing new ads during the American Idol shows on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You can watch this new ad by going to the Get a Mac page on Apple's website and clicking "Office Stress."
Apple has released three new iPhone ads showing off the iTunes Store, Google maps positioning feature, and how to win a bet. These commercials are done in the regular iPhone ad style. I like the way the bet ad ends with the narrator saying, "... then you'll have the internet and five dollars, in your pocket."
Last year, we pointed out this cool campaign for iPods with video in South Africa. Tiny boxes of movie popcorn, posters and even a miniature "trailer" announced the idea of "Movies in your pocket."
Today, Creative Bits describes another iPod campaign from South Africa. It features a set of earbuds that lead not to an iPod, but a pocket full of music, if you will. In one ad, a rock band does its thing in a woman's purse. In another, a boy band croons on a desk and a hip-hop act features a microphone wire that leads to the wearer's earbuds.
The images are great, and quite different from the silhouette ads we see in the US. Have you seen an interesting campaign or ad in your neck of the woods?
Tonight Apple released a new iPod touch ad during American Idol on FOX. The ad features several iPod touches laid out on a table with various features showing. After some of the iPods are shown at a close up, hands reach out and grab the iPod touches with the words "Everybody touch" displayed.
Tonight, Apple released two new iPhone commercials in the standard iPhone-esqe style -- Facebook and Cars. In these two commercials, Apple expounds on features that have already been introduced in older commercials. This is the first time that Apple has shown a web application on the iPhone in a commercial. Apple announces in the commercial, "If you love Facebook so much that you check it all the time on your computer, just think how great it would be to check it every time... you're, well, nowhere near your computer."
Oddly enough, with the two new iPhone commercials, there is no mention of the new 16GB model that was just released today.
Designed to encourage people to be aware of traffic while listening to their iPods, the ads depict users lying on the road, their eyes closed and an earbud wire partially outlining their bodies, Dragnet-style. The headline at the top of each image reads, "Watch for cars when wearing headphones." They certainly grab your attention.
We've posted before on legislative efforts to prevent 'walking while listening' -- a campaign like this might be more effective in the long run than law enforcement would be.
If you listen to our talkcast, you'll already know that Apple makes their product release decisions based around my own personal experience -- every time I buy an Apple product, Steve stands up and releases something even newer and cooler soon after. Of course, as the parody says, if you want to own something that doesn't ever get better after you buy it, there is always an alternative.
Apple began airing a new "Get A Mac" ad during this weekend's NFL playoff games, and it was posted to Apple.com earlier this evening. This time around, PC has hired a referee to ensure that Mac's boasting about Leopard isn't unfounded.
The ref peers into the replay booth, then declares:
"After further review, the ruling stands. Leopard is better and faster than Vista."
PC gets flustered and is eventually "ejected." It's not the funniest ad, but certainly timely. Check it out.
Back in early November, PC World magazine gave a wet, sloppy kiss to the MacBook Pro, noting that "[t]he fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year--or for that matter, ever--is a Mac." Apparently this rousing endorsement of a laptop so freakishly powerful, so undeniably force-of-nature fast that it flat-out screams while running an OS that it happens to support only in 'bridesmaid mode'... well, that is the sort of thing that causes marketing executives to cock their heads and listen like extras in an E.F. Hutton ad.
Apple's new "Misprint" ad, appearing online and on TV now, features an irate PC calling the editorial offices of PC World to complain about this obvious benchmarking error. It's a funny ad, but along with the recent Podium and PR Lady ads, this new spot provokes some fascinating cognitive dissonance. We're told that Vista is undesirable, that users are 'upgrading' back to XP -- but hey, if you're gonna run it, you could run it awful quick on a Mac. Is it just me, or is that somewhat weird?
Ever since the iPhone was released it seemed that Apple was funneling all of its advertising budget into iPhone advertising. This meant a lack of those fun Mac vs. PC commercials that we have all grown to love. Luckily for us, Apple has just started airing three new entries into their 'Get a Mac' ad campaign, and i must say that these are the best yet.
All two of the three ads (Podium and PR Lady) focus on the general public's lackluster response to Vista, and the fact that some PC users are actually downgrading to XP. The Podium ad actually made me laugh out loud, which is high praise for a commercial.
The remaining commercial (Boxer) focuses on people switching to the Mac for its ease of use.
All of the ads have been updated with an iMac sporting Leopard's default desktop.
What do you think of the new ads? Sound off in the comments.
As many, many readers noted, a new iPod touch ad appeared on TV over the weekend, and Apple has now posted it on their site. There's a long story behind this one that I hadn't heard yet, it would seem that the ad is a product of TBWA/Chiat/Day, just like most of Apple's ads, but the idea actually came from an 18-year-old English guy named Nick Haley. Nick created the ad (his original cut is above) back in September as a homage to Apple's new iPod, and it looks like someone in Cupertino noticed (or at least someone on Madison Avenue).
This might be old news to most of you, but I hadn't heard it and it's a good story. Apple has a reputation for getting their advertising from other sources, and it's nice to see them acknowledge an ad that came from someone who really loves their products.
Special thanks to reader running for figuring this one out for us: the song used in the ad is actually the same one used in this super weird Zune ad from last year. Even when Apple is completely upfront about the origin of their ad, they can't seem to keep from colliding with competitors in the same space.
Update: Calling it the iTouch was completely accidental, and I apologize. You guys are right-- it's the iPod touch, and I'm sorry for mistaking it. I guess the word was sitting in my brain and just wanted to come out.